A museum which burned down in a huge fire is due to reopen in time for next Christmas.

Staff at the National Motorcycle Museum at Bickenhill, near the NEC, say work is ahead of schedule to rebuild the centre and replace the 650 vintage bikes which were destroyed in the fire.

Owner Roy Richards said: "We have all been working really hard to get the museum open again in time for Christmas and it looks like we're now ahead.

"Almost immediately after the fire - within a week or so afterwards - we began replacing the stock and have taken in new exhibits from all over the world. When it reopens, it will be even bigger and better than ever.

"There are a lot of people working very, very hard on this and we are certain it will be ready in time."

The reopening is set to take place on December 1.

Project manager Martin Byrne is overseeing the renovation following the massive blaze in September.

He said: "The work began almost straight away and is progressing quite quickly. We have the steel frames of the three halls in place and we are getting ready to put roof tiles on a fourth."

Mr Byrne said all the halls would be fitted with sprinkler systems.

He added: "The design of the museum will be the same as before and when it's ready there will be one big opening."

The huge fire, which caused £8million damage, is believed to have been started by a smoker.

Mr Richards said he and his staff were moved by messages from all over the world.

He said: "Since the fire, we have had thousands upon thousands of letters, e-mails and faxes from people in the USA, Australia, Czechoslovakia and Russia among other places.

"We would like to express our thanks to all those people for their kind words." Fire investigators believe someone discarded a cigarette outside the building, which then set fire to a small pile of cardboard boxes nearby.

The fire, which left three of the museum's five exhibition halls in ruins, could be seen from 15 miles away.

The skeletons of hundreds of motorbikes were left standing amid the debris.